Tuesday, June 28, 2016

Well, the latest addition to the GunGeeks stable is a S&W K-17 .22LR double action revolver. While it is not a K-22 Combat Masterpiece, it will do as a very nice addition to the collection. It goes well with my K-19 .357 Magnum.

After a few rounds to sight it in, I shot a target that I'll scan at some other date. 30 rnds at 25 yds off of a bag on the bench. Less than 1" vertical with an interesting horizontal spread that is all me. Gun shoots tight and when I found it, based on the underside of the top strap where the cylinder gap is, it could not have had more than a box shot through it. Did I mention it was in the used counter at a decently discounted price? A new set of Jerry Miculek grips for the K-17 are inbound as it needs to match the K-19.

And now for the rant in Gun Geek Rants. Why in the hell could I not carry it out of the shop after I bought it? For a moment, let's ignore that I have a Texas LTC Instructors rating and have to get FBI fingerprint based background checks every other year and that the Texas LTC qualifies to wave the NICS check when purchasing a firearm.

John Q Public (Citizen of the Great State of Texas) walks into a gun store in Bugscuffle Texas and finds a gun that he likes. He informs the countermonkey of this and they agree on a price which he pays. He fills out an ATF Form 4473 and the countermonkey goes to his phone and calls the NICS hotline and gets an approval for the sale. John Q. walks out the door, proudly carrying his newly purchased firearm. At the same time, his cousin, John P. Public Jr. (Citizen of Big Sky Country) walks into a gun store in Podunk Montana. Sees the same gun model and genetics being what they are goes "OOOooooooOOOooooo." The local countermonkey negotiates a price with John P. and after some haggling, they come to terms. John P. fills out a 4473 of his own, Podunk countermonkey calls NICS and gets a proceed message and John P. walks out the door with his new purchase. Then proceeds to call his cousin to brag about his new gun. With me so far? Here's where it gets difficult. Now, if John Q. is on vacation visiting his cousin John P. and walks into the Podunk GunWerks with his cousin and sees a gun he likes he can most certainly buy it. BUT, he doesn't fill out a 4473, the local countermonkey doesn't call THE EXACT SAME NICS HOTLINE THAT THE TEXAS COUNTERMONKEY DOES AND GET THE EXACT SAME PROCEED, and he doesn't get to take the gun with him. Instead, John Q. pays not only for the gun, but also shipping and gives the Podunk gun store contact information for his local gun store back in Bugscuffle, Texas. The Podunk, MT Gun Store then confirms the validity of the Bugscuffle, TX gun stores FFL and then packs up the gun that John Q. just paid for and ships it to the dealer in Bugscuffle, TX. Now, when John Q. has finished his vacation, he wanders into his local FFL there in Bugscuffle, TX and sees his new gun again, this time with his name already on the package with a PAID sticker on it. He then fills out an ATF 4473 and the countermonkey there in Bugscuffle, TX CALLS THE SAME DAMN NICS HOTLINE THAT THE DEALER IN PODUNK, MT WOULD HAVE CALLED AND GETS THE SAME PROCEED RESPONSE. John Q. then pays his local store there in Bugscuffle for their trouble (transfer fee) and walks out the door with his new gun. That he purchased over a week ago. In another state.

So answer me this, with the current reporting requirements and check requirements that everyone goes through the same 4473 and NICS check from the same FBI office no matter where they are, Why the hell does the transfer have to happen by common carrier to the other state and other local FFL before John Q can get his new gun? There is no local notification of the Sheriff of Bugscuffle County Texas just as there is no local notification of the Sheriff of Podunk County Montana. Only difference is that the paper 4473 with John Q.'s name and the Serial Number of the gun are located in the back room of the FFL in Bugscuffle and not in the cellar of the FFL in Podunk. If the gun is stolen of used in a crime and some LOE does a trace on it, the manufacturer, the distributor get trace requests that send them to the FFL in MT and they get an answer. Or now, the FFL in MT responds with the information on the FFL in TX who then gets a trace request and digs up the file and responds with the information. There is no difference except the soil on which the buyer is standing.

Sunday, June 26, 2016

That would be a 1963 Daisy Model 107. Only 1 year younger than me. An excellent addition to the collection here at Casa K-. There's another addition but that will be its own post as I am going to go off on the NICS check and interstate transfer laws. For now, I just need some time when the weather isn't something resembling the surface of the sun and when I am feeling halfway human to take this outside and do some shooting. Not like I can shoot this into my Airsoft trap at the end of the hall. I could probably make something that would work but that would require energy that I just don't have this weekend.

Thursday, June 23, 2016

So while we were on vacation, there was a Clancy Days complete with parade. After poking around at all the vendors, buying a radio (Another Post) and a Yard Moose (Another Post), we settled in for the parade. I love small town parades.

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

One way to tell that the shooter in whose house you are staying is serious about it.

When they have a ballistic table on the side of the stock. With both elevation and wind-age for two very different loads. Of .22LR! One standard load and one is CCI Quiet. That right there is a Gopher Gitter. That whole "aim small miss small" thing takes on a whole new meaning when you are trying to shoot Gophers. Smaller than Prairie Dogs but not quite as skittish. You can usually get within 50-100 yards of them but have to be accurate doing it. I managed to bag 6 on the folks place with my 10/22 while we were up there. Went with a family friend out to a ranch on the other side of the valley and in the course of an hour shot another 50 or so. That field was unusable for livestock and horses because there were so many gopher holes in the pasture.

Friday, June 17, 2016

3946 Miles were driven. (in four days!)
Too many dollars were spent. (we budgeted for the trip but found things ...)
Many smiles were shared. (with family and friends.)
A new radio was purchased. (new to me but older than me!)
Lots of ammo was expended. (a 50 cal ammo cans worth and then some.).
A new (To me) gun was purchased. (purchased but not in my possession yet.)
Many meals were shared. (and it rained every time I grilled!)
A few pounds were gained. (we won't talk about that.)
Much stress was relieved. (the computer was ignored more than I have on ANY prior vacation.)
Much wildlife was watched. (and captured on film.)
A small town festival was attended. (Clancy Day!)
And a parade was watched. (marching band had maybe a dozen kids.)

More posts to follow with pictures, vintage radios, new guns, whacked gophers and maybe if y'all are very nice maybe a picture of our new yard moose (not pictured above, that's a bull elk taken from the kitchen window of the folks house). Definitely some rants in there about traffic and vehicle issues as well as the outdatedness of the Interstate Firearms Transfer laws.

Of all that mileage, we were just outside of 50 miles from home before we ran into the only car crash of the trip. Rollover on I-45 that was already in the cleanup stages when we finally got up to it. The passenger cab of the car looked fairly intact so we are hoping that the occupants were protected by seatbelts and airbags.